The invention relates to battery-powered timepieces, and particularly to battery-powered wristwatches.
Battery-powered wristwatches have become popular because of their accurate timekeeping, dependable service, and convenience. A conventional battery-powered wristwatch has a low-cost quartz watch movement housed within a watchcase. The watch movement includes a battery compartment containing a single battery to power the watch movement.
Although conventional wristwatches provide good service, there is room for improvement. To replace the battery, the back of the watchcase must be removed to gain access to the battery compartment. In virtually all currently produced watches this directly exposes the watch movement to the outside environment and enables pollutants and other contaminants to reach sensitive watch movement components with deleterious effects.
In addition it is well known that watch batteries, like many larger dry-cell batteries are not immune to leakage and when this happens the movement is often damaged. This is true even for the cells in quartz watches that have self-charging mechanisms.
Also it has become well established that when many watch owners who are inexperienced in handling watches attempt to install a battery they often inadvertently touch and damage delicate movement parts. This is also true of under-trained department store clerks and the like.
Furthermore, it is desirable to extend the operating life of the wristwatch between battery changes. It is known to provide batteries in external battery compartments outside of the watchcase to extend the operating life of the watch. However, the external battery compartments detract from the appearance of the watch and require complicated electrical connections extending between the external battery compartments and the watch movement.
Thus there is a need for an improved battery-powered wristwatch. The wristwatch should enable battery replacement without exposing the watch movement to the outside environment while providing longer operating life between battery changes without external battery compartments, and the movement needs to be isolated from the battery.
The invention is an improved battery-powered wristwatch that enables battery replacement without exposing the watch movement to the outside environment. The wristwatch can include two or more batteries within the watchcase, enabling longer operating life between battery changes without the need for external battery compartments.
A wristwatch in accordance with the present invention includes a rigid watchcase comprising an exterior portion defining an interior case compartment. A battery-powered watch movement housed within the case compartment is connected to a display, typically a pair of hands indicating the time. The watchcase includes an interior wall in the case compartment cooperating with the exterior portion of the case to define a battery compartment within the case compartment. The watch movement is outside of the battery compartment.
Electrical connections in the case compartment extend from the battery compartment to the watch movement to transmit electrical power from a battery in the battery compartment to the watch movement. A battery compartment door on the exterior portion of the watchcase faces the battery compartment and is movable between a closed position wherein the battery compartment is closed to retain a battery in the battery compartment and an opened position wherein the battery compartment is open to the outside environment. When changing the battery only the battery compartment is directly exposed to the outside environment.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention two or more battery compartments are defined within the watchcase. Each battery compartment has its own battery compartment door. In a particularly preferred embodiment the watchcase has four battery compartments, each battery compartment adjacent a lug or horn for mounting a conventional wristband. Each lug is an integral part of and extends from a respective battery compartment door to form a convenient handle for opening and closing the door.
Noteworthy of mention is the fact that, unlike mechanical spring driven movements, the smaller quartz movements have virtually the same degree of accuracy as the larger quartz movements. Thus, even with four batteries, the overall size of the improved watch in accordance with the present invention needs to be no larger than an average size conventional wristwatch.